Manufacture of candies



(Specimens.)

W. E. COLEMAN.

MANUPAGTURB 0F GANDIES, TOY GONFEGTIONS, aw.

No. 356,450. Patented Jan. 25, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

WALTER E. COLEMAN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW- YORK.

MANuFAcTuRE o? GANDIES, TOY CONFECTIONS, ac.

BPBUIIICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 356.450, dated January25, 1887.

Appui-,ation mea apra sarees. sel-in No. musee. (specimens.)

To all whom it'm ay concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER E. COLEMAN, formerly a subject of the Queenof Great Britain, having declared myintenti'o'n of becoming a citizen-ofthe United States, and being at. present a resident of the c'ity ofBrooklyn, in the county of-Kings and State of NewfYork, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvey ments in the Manufacture of Candies, ToyConic fections, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear,- and exact description of the invention, which 'will enableIothers skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My improvements relate more especially to theclass of confections whichare designated as molded goodsy. consisting of -a suitable paste orsemi-liquid preparation cast or molded into forms and designs of variouskinds Hcretofore this class of goods have been formed lby pouring thematerial by handlinto temporary molds or matrices previously formed byhand in a bed of starch. Briefly stated, the loperation has been, afterleveling the surface 23 of a quantity of starch deposited in a suitable"starch board or tray, to form in such starch a series of intagliodepressions or matrices by forcing altorelievo patterns into the starch.The material to be cast was then poured into th e several matrices byhand, and'afterithad set or hardened sufficiently the whole contents ofthe starch board ortray was s'ifted to separate 'the castings from thebody of starch,

. Y that still adheringbeing presumablyremoved by further subjectingthecastings to an airblast.

Forl various reasons the old method is slow y and expensive. Owing tothe nature of the material in whieh the matrices are formed, un- 40usual care and skill must be bestowed upon the operation in order toeven approximate uniformity orperfection in result. Uniformity, in-thesize and shape of the castings is desirable in all this class of goods,but especially when the castings are tobe coated -with chocolate orother comparatively expensive matelrial, in which case imperfections orvoverflow not only spoil the appearanceof the product,bnt

l.also take up a disproportionately large quan- 5c tity of the moreexpensive material. `Again',

v the matrices, although so difficult andexpe'n sive to produce, areonly available each for the formation-,of a single casting, so that,taking into-consideration the number of matrices that'are formed and notused on account of 55 obvious imperfections, and also the 'number ofAcastings that are -iinally discarded in practice for a similar reason,'it w-i'llhe seen that there are numerous disadvantages attending the useof'such a process.`

The object of my invent-ionis to not only obviate the diflcultiesindicated, but also simplify, cheapen, and expedite theY manufacture ofthe moldings or castings herein referred to, and'lto accomplish allwithout the aid of specially-skilled labor. l

The m'or'e essential feature of Vmy improved processconsists in formingthe castings in permanent molds formed of an elastic or semi- -elasticmaterial, and retrievingv the said eastings after they have set orhardened by bending the said molds, substantially as. hereinafter setforth, in such manner as to cause the side walls ot' the matrices toopen or .recede from the casting, ,when the latter will d rop out or maybe readily removed' without injury to either matrices 'or castings. l

My invention also. includes theproccss'hereinafte'r described of fillingthe matrices and removing the surplus from the mold by passing thelatter under a'hopper charged with the material to be cast, and under asuitable scraper or flexible side wall of the hopper, which prevents theundue escape of the semiliquid material and levels off vthe uppersurface of the material thus detached andremevcd from the hopper. v

Another feature of my invention consists in rendering the -processcontinuous by forming the castings in matrices formed in an endless beltor mold; by which theyre discharged during the passage arou nd thesupporting-cylinder at one end of the apparatus, the matrices thus,emptied continuing onward until they again come underneath thefeeding-hopper and; are again filled, conveyed' around the cylinder, andemptied thereby, as before described. In connection with certain gradesof goods which cool or set rapidly, this process of continuousuninterrupted working is of importance, although in other grades ofgoods which require considerablel time to harden or set the process maybe carried on by casting intoelastic or semi-elastic mats or sheets ofmolds,

roo

which, after being passed underneath the hopper and filled, maybeconveniently setaside until the castings acquire the requisite degree ofhardness'or tenacity, when the castings may be removed'fromthe matrices,asbefore stated,

by'bending the molds.

The castings produced by my process are perfectly uniform and true, andcome from their matrix in proper condition for dippingn or otherwisefinishing.

Iam aware that in patent to Sowle, No; 28,815, June 19, 1860, acontinuous system of cutting lozenges from asheet of paste is shown,

4in which the fiat lozenges thus formed are deare loosenedand ejectedbybending the molds,

the inherent elasticity of the molds themselves effecting the dischargeof the castings, wh creas in the Sowle machine the lozenges are not castat all, but are forcibly cut out o f a sheet of material by rigid metalknives in the form of dies, from which they are removed by rigidplungers. There is absolutely no employment of eltic material in the Sowiedevice, except as a backing for the sheet-of` material from which thelozenges are stamped out, and the elasticity in that case is ratherutilizedl to force the. material into the dies than to remove ittherefrom, as in my process of manufacture.A Aside from the obviousdifferences in appara' tus and process,it would be practically impos-'sible to produce by the Sowle apparatus the equivalent of the variousand intricate forms of castings which I can produce by my process ofcasting in flexible molds, his dies and plungers (which are even usedfor printing or compressing the faces of the lozenges) practically.limiting his apparatus tov the production of dat cakes of eventhickness. Y

Another leading distinctionl between the Sowle apparatus referred to andmy improved process consists in the fact that his process contemplatesthe use of paste exclusively, and it would be impossible to mold aliquid or semi-liquid material in his apparatus, whereas my invention isespecially designed for the purpose of making castings from a liquid orsemiliquid material which runs into and fills the 'molds by its owngravity, no cutting or 'compression being used to shape the castings,

the surplus material. being simply scraped o' the face of the sheet ofmoidsbefore the material 'nas time to harden or set.

In the accompanying drawings I illustrate apparatus which may beemployed in carrying out my process of manufacture, although I expresslydisclaim any intention of confining myself tothe use of any special form-of appa ratus, the essential features of my inventionst Vashereinbefore set forth, being'capa'ble of 'employment and adaptation inconjunction with various modifications in details of construction ofapparatus. t

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of an apparatus forcontinuously working my improved process, the central portion beingbroken away. Fig. 2 is aplau of the same parts shownin Fig. 1; Fig'. 3,a sectional vicwof a portion of the semi-elastic mold bent and in theact of discharging the castings.

The mold Ais made ofl rubber or other suitable elastic or semi-elasticsubstance permanently formed with a series of matrices, a.

The moldA maybe in the form of an endless belt or sheet,` as shown inthe drawings; or it may be in the form of a sheet `or mat of suitablelength for handling, the essential feature being a sufficient degreeofelasticity to Apermit of the discharge of the castings from the matricesby bending the mold so as to .stretch or open the matrices, asillustrated in Fig. 3.

In carrying out my process the batch of candy or other confection to beused to form the castings is put, in a' semi-liquid or soft con: dition,into a hopper, B, and the mold A is then passed underneath its loweropening, b, the matrices a being thereby' filled with the material; Thesurplus material is removed from the face of the mold and retainedwithinA the hopper by a rubber dam or scraper, b.

,To still further insure vthe removal of any excess of material `fromthe face of the mold A, I prefer to pass the mold underneath a take-uproll, ,C, the periphery of which moves in an opposite direction to thatofthe surface of the mold, and thereby wipes off any remain,- ingsurplus and transfers it to a, scraper, c, which may be provided with atrough, c', for its reception.

Where the apparatus used is continuous, as illustratedin the drawings,the endless mold 'is eithermade of sucient len th to edect the settingof the castings be ore they reach the discharging-cylinder D, or thatend of the apparatus is situated in a chilling or drying room, wherebythe castings are quickly rendered tkto discharge; or, the candy orconfection naturally being prepared in batches of a given quantity,requiring a prescribed time to prepare, the endless mold may be made toaccommodate a single batch with in the matrices situated at any one timeabove the table T, and after being filled that portion of the mold maybe allowed to'remain upon the table until the next batch is ready. oruntil the castings have set suciently to be discharged.

In this continuous apparatus it may bc desirable to use an agitator, E,'of any suitable construction, which will beator jar the back side ofthe mold A as it passes underneath, in order to insure the discharge ofany of the castings that may be inclined to stiel:` to iheir matrices'from any cause. A starcher, S, may also be situated underneath thetable for the 15 Fig. s.

2o feet to myinvention,

' to any 25 fetnring castings of candy purpose of dusting the emptiedmatrices with starch preparatory to their again passing underneath thehopper B'.

4It is obvious thatthe endlessI mold is not 5 absolutely essential tothe carrying out of my improved process,since (by way ol' illustration)it might bedivided into several. sections, thereby forming mats orsheets which could .he passed underneath the hopper and scraper :o andlaid aside until the castings were ready -for removal, when the mats orsheets might be bentl or sprung out by .any suitable means in order toeffect the discharge of the castings, las hereinbefore set'fort-h, andas illustrated in Any suitable' means fornpplying the neces sary powerand effecting the required motions may be employed. y

Having thus described means of giving ef'- wi thout confn i ng ymyselfspecial form ,of apparatus, what I claim as my invention, and desiretosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process herein described of manuor confectionery I oma fluid orsemi-finiti material, consisting Sin depositing such material inmatrices formed in a mold of elastic or semi-elastic material, allowingthe castings to set or harden, and

3o -thexi loosening or discharging them therefrom bybending the mold,snbstantiallyin the manner and for the purpose described.

2..-The process herein described of manufacturing castings of candy orconfectioneryfrom a fluid or. semi-iilid material, consisting indepositing the prepared material 1n a sulla Yable hopper, from thelowerlend ofvwhich it is .from a liquid or semi-fluid material,consisting in depositing the said material in a suitable hopper,fronrtlie lower end of which it is rennovedby mueudless belt of elasticor semielasticL material formed wit-ha series of mat- Aricos, in whichthe castings are allowed to set or harden, and from which they aredischarged by the stretching of the saidelastic mold as lt passes over acurved surface, substantially 1n thc manner and for thepurposedescribed.

WALTER E. COLEMAN.

Witnesses:

WM. GARDNER, .GEo. W. MIATT.

the pur j

